president's pushing for changes in immigration and for gun control, and then the familiar themes like energy, education, and infrastructure. all of this delivered before a still sharply divided congress. president obama comes here to capitol hill tonight to fulfill his constitutional duty to inform congress about the state of the union. >> you will hear in the president's state of the union an outline from him for his plan to create jobs and grow the middle class. >> reporter: aides tell us the president's speech will sound more like the speeches he gave during his re-election bid. you can expect to hear a lot about the economy. but critics say once re-elected, the president pivoted and his spent most of his second term working on social issues such as gun control and immigration reform. the white house disagrees. >> there's no pivot here. the president's principal preoccupation since he ran for office in 2007 has been what we need to do to make our economy work for the middle class. >> reporter: in the republican response, florida senator marco rubio is exchanpected to make t case of how le